Are
genetic defects -
price of
evolution?
Book
of Daniel
"Revelation" of John
The
signs of times
P4
Who is Jesus?
In
his student's years a young American Josh McDowell was completely sure that to
believe to Jesus some one has to be not in
own mind. He looked down on the believers. With the purpose to prove, that the
Christians were mistaken, he decided to investigate the two
thousands of years old documents ... Nowadays McDowell - the expert in the field of
history and philosophy. And all his lectures, books, disputes and films
are united by one theme: Jesus Christ. Some theses from his book «Not just a
Carpenter» are offered to your
attention.
Having
rise the question: who is Jesus, McDowell examines the following versions: a deceiver, a madman, God.
The
first version: a deceiver.
If
Jesus knew, that He was not God, it means that He was a liar and in addition to
it a hypocrite: you see He ordered
everyone to be always honest what ever it cost. In this case all His doctrine,
all His life will appear to be an extreme lie. More than that it means He was a
demon since He ordered people to entrust their souls to Him. And, at last,
besides He was stupid: for He was crucified just for His claims on the divine
being. However such view on Jesus is hard to be taken in our notion about Him:
it doesn’t coincide with what we know about His life and about the influence
of His doctrine on mankind. For everywhere, where the word of Jesus was
proclaimed, people and the whole nations had changed to best,
thieves had became honest, alcoholics gave up drinking,
people full of hatred became kind, an unfair became a fair.
The historian Philip Schaff says: «This testimony, if not true, must be down right blasphemy or madness. The former hypothesis cannot stand a moment before the moral purity and dignity of Jesus, revealed in His every word and work, and acknowledged by universal consent. Self-deception in a matter so momentous, and with an intellect in all respects so clear and so sound, is equally out of the question. How could He be an enthusiast or madman who never lost the even balance of His mind, who sailed serenely over all the troubles and persecutions, as the sun above the clouds, who always returned the wisest answer to tempting questions, who calmly and deliberately predicted His death on the cross, His resurrection on the third day, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the founding of His church, the destruction of Jerusalem - predictions which have been literally fulfilled? A character so original, so complete, so uniformly consistent, so perfect, so human and yet so high above all human greatness, can be neither a fraud, not a fiction. The poet, as has been well said, would in this case be greater than the hero. It would take more than a Jesus to invent a Jesus»...
If we will apply to our logic, a common sense and one’s own experience will we accept that an impostor, i.e. immoral deceiver and egoist could pretend to be the purest and noble man known to history by his most natural kindness from the very beginning until to the end? How could he conceive and carry out his beneficial plan marked by unprecedented moral greatness and elevated thoughts and sacrifice his own life for the sake of it, despite of cruel prejudices of his people and his epoch?